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People & Organization
The comfortable environment in Deaf in Business attracts numerous numbers of customers that are mainly comprised of the office workers within the building. The homey interior design provides a sensation of comfort to customers while dining and resting from their hectic lifestyle. The workers are trained to serve with a heart-warming smile, accompanied by their passionate and friendly attitude that contributes to their impeccable service. The café also provides a sign language board, which allows customers to communicate with the staffs In DIB. Deaf in Business visualizes to be a profitable and successful deaf-run local gourmet coffee chain, with the aim to expand its outlets not just in Asia, but worldwide. Encouragements are given to the hearing-impaired, which serves as a motivation to boost self-confidence and independence. They are constantly reminded that they are as capable as normal-hearing people as long as they are willing to strive for their dreams.
The website of DIB Coffees of Hawaii provides a brief history of Dr. Allen Teh’s career path throughout the years. Being a believer in God, Dr. Allen Teh firmly holds upon his beliefs and trusts that the driving force in the continuation and sustenance in his business stemmed from his faith in God. It is said that Dr. Allen Teh, the manager of DIB, has been in the field of Operations, Management and Consultancy for over 30 years to date. He dedicated 12 years of his life to the operations and management of several restaurants, including fast food chains such as KFC and Pizza Hut. Despite being fully invested in the management and operations of these fast food chains, his working experience is nothing short of wide, ranging from various industries such as hotel, manufacturing, entertainment, insurance to property development. Dr. Allen Teh was also involved in advanced industries, including the pharmaceutical, bio-technology, and the ever-growing oil palm industry. Swarmed with so many responsibilities that an everyday individual would be drowning in, Dr. Allen Teh was also able to manage Consultant with Price Waterhouse Malaysia. He was the founder and CEO of Centre of Customer Care Malaysia and has been a significant instrument in the promotion of importance of service excellence on a global scale. Dr. Allen Teh began working on projects that empower the hearing-impaired in 1985, where he managed the Deaf KFC Imbi Project. One of his many hopes for the corporate world is to create a business medium where the deaf can reap the many benefits that the corporate world provides for the society. Dr. Allen Teh hopes that the members of the deaf community will not only be handed the opportunity to be employed in the corporate world but also gain equity in the business.
Society has a tendency of believing that the managers of restaurants do not have it as hard as those in the corporate world. Yet after careful analysis, the managers of these restaurants have so much on their plate on a day to day basis. One of their many duties is to estimate the consumption of food and beverages in a day. This estimation serves as a guide for them to place orders with suppliers. Managers are also in charge of the ordering of non-food related items such as cooking utensils, kitchenware and many more. The arrangement of repairing out of order equipment also falls on the laps of the managers. In addition to this, managers are placed head front to deal with the complaints of the customers about the food, beverages, service, and many more. Managers are responsible of ensuring that the restaurant is, at all times, in tip top condition and obeying all the rules dictated by the health inspectors. They are assigned to manage the cash flow of the restaurant and to keep charge of receipts at the end of every working day. Then, the managers are in-charge of the banking and accounts of the company. Furthermore, the restaurant managers have to also function as a human resource personnel in a small organization such as DIB. It is their responsibility to hire individuals that are capable and hardworking who will complement the image of the restaurant at all hours of the day.
Deaf in Business recruits hearing-impaired in the society and provide them with the opportunity to work in the hearing world. They hire employees who are willing to learn and work hard to ensure a better future for not only themselves but also their families. Employees are not required to have any barista or restaurant experiences, as they will be provided with in-house skill training as a stepping-stone to be a professional coffee barista. The availability of trainers allows more potential staffs to be trained, providing increments to the number of staffs in the café. There are special trainers with the capability of guiding and communicating with them through the usage of sign language. Deaf in Business is an organization that eliminates the discrimination of the hearing-impaired, encouraging them to be independent as they are able to excel as well or better than the non-disabled.
With their patience and guidance, the trainees are able to successfully complete the course within 2 weeks. They are also provided with various kind of basic training such as cooking, baking and professional barista courses, allowing them to learn multiple aspects of work within the restaurant. The involvement of such training encourages job rotation among the employees, which prevents the loss of both skills and interest in their occupation. This would definitely be beneficial to the company in the long run as the employees are not restrained in terms of work selection. Moreover, their multitasking abilities enable them to substitute other workers when the need arrives.
In our opinion, the respectable Dr Allen Teh is a charismatic and visionary leader. Dr. Allen portrays a charismatic figure who is energetic, self-confident, ambitious and last but not least, an unfazed optimist. He has the ability to influence the behavior of the people who are around him. Dr. Allen sets a good example and acts as a role model to his workers by the simple acts of constantly encouraging each and every one of them to have faith in themselves and believe that they are able to work better than the non-hearing-impaired. Living in the 21st century, innovation and creativity is crucial in order to distinguish one café from the others due to the industry's competitive nature. He has demonstrated extraordinary qualities by articulating and forming a business with a unique concept before any other entrepreneur began to venture into. Albeit being sensitive to both environmental constraint and the needs of followers, he is willing to take numerous risks in order to achieve his vision. Dr. Allen Teh has successfully managed to sustain his business despite facing the obstacles of financial constraints. His admirable attitude has enabled him to achieve success in the business world.
As DIB is yet to make its mark in the café industry, Dr. Allen took the initiative to set up kiosk in Taylor's University Lakeside Campus in order to boost its publicity. This clearly shows his eagerness in achieving his desired goal and vision. His charismatic characteristic is clearly demonstrated when he is willing to take the risk of hiring individuals who are deaf and face hearing disabilities as his employees in the food outlet. In this era, the number of leaders who are willing to venture into a high-risk business that involves social responsibility is meager. Therefore, Dr. Allen’s charismatic leadership has inspired many others, including those who are not affiliated with the company directly. Other upcoming entrepreneurs often refer to Dr. Allen’s career path for inspiration and motivation. Rather than just making a mark in the corporate world, they would consider to carry out their social responsibilities to benefit the society not only in a conventional way but in a innovative form.
The main managerial problem and challenge encountered by the manager is financial problem. Based on the interview, he had emphasised that he has invested half a million ringgit in Deaf in Business. The usage of large capital in his business has resulted in a financial constraint faced by both DIB and Dr. Allen Teh himself. With an expansion of DIB outlets, Dr. Allen would be able to compensate the losses that the company had made. However, his desire of branching his outlets as a source of income is restricted, as it requires a huge sum of money. From this scenario we can conclude that the company is facing difficulties to break-even. With many aspects that contribute to the company’s running costs, including salary, electricity and water, the founder faces a challenge in sustaining the business.
The nature of DIB as a social project creates a situation whereby workers receive low or even zero income. While DIB focuses on empowering the disabled in the workforce as waiters and baristas, the company has to take into account of the high salaries generally requested by skilled workers such as chefs and accountants as well. With a low profit margin, Dr. Allen Teh encounters yet another obstacle in hiring staffs in the kitchen who are willing to provide their service at such low prices and long working hours.
Dr. Allen Teh admits that the hearing-impaired staffs are not particularly easy to work with. As how we all have set backs in our mind-sets, they do too, with a tendency to become over-sensitive. This leads to disputes and deterioration in productivity. The founder mitigates this issue by being a communicator among staffs. By getting his staffs to understand the essence of teamwork and the organization’s goals, he is also able to foster pride in them and encourage them to adapt to the hearing world. With this, a certain level of harmony may be established and both parties will benefit from their co-existence.
DIB should fully utilize the disabled workforce rather than employing certified or professional chefs, which may induce high expenses. Preparation of meals that requires minimum skills, such as sandwiches and cakes are recommended as it is simple and time-conserving. Trainees are able to acquire basic gastronomic skills in a shorter period of time in comparison to the more comprehensive skills. This would be beneficial to DIB as training cost and time is shortened. Besides that, providing consultation to his employees in an understanding manner is one of the methods used to overcome this challenge. Geared with an in-born charismatic nature, Dr. Allen has the ability to influence his employees, diverting them towards the right mentality. Hence, he often highlights the importance of stepping outside comfort zones, mainly focusing these words of wisdom to the group of hearing-impaired staff members. Rather than aiding them in terms of employment, DIB brightens the paths of the hearing-impaired by guiding them towards the right path.
As stated above, the expansion of DIB is constricted mainly due to the capital limitations. However, the expansion of DIB outlets is foreseeable with the aid of conglomerates. Based on our opinion, companies should venture into investing in a social responsible business as it benefits the coexistence of both parties. The unique nature of this company has benefited numerous disabled in the society with the provision of the opportunity to be employed. With the participation of large corporates in the nation, DIB is able to have a better chance to expand, thus increasing the job opportunities among the disabled. The involvement of corporates is able to pave the business forward, acting as a helping hand to the unfortunate and as opening doors of opportunity to the ones in need.